Faith and Duty: An Act of True Love
by Dragunov888
Summary: Written for Frozen month, this is a "what if" story under the 'Back to Arendelle" category. The premise is simple- what if instead of reluctantly obeying Prince Hans' order to execute Queen Elsa, what if the Royal Guard mutinied? Consider it a stand alone Alt. Ending to Faith and Duty. Rated M for violence.


Author's Note: Written for Frozen month, this is a "what if" story under the 'Back to Arendelle" category. The premise is simple- what if instead of reluctantly obeying Prince Hans' order to execute Queen Elsa, what if the Royal Guard mutinied? This story was written using characters and plotlines from my first story, 'Faith and Duty'. While the story works on its own, for better exposition one is encouraged to read Chapters 1-7 for a better grasp of the OC's. Otherwise, the story prior to this is identical to Frozen. Enjoy!

July 17th, 1840

Royal Guardsmen Barracks

The previously grim mood in the barracks had been replaced with one of anxiety. The Guard as a whole was holding its breath. They knew Princess Anna had went down with some sort of cold related injury, with some whispering it had been done by the Queen. So there was peril, but most waited for the word of the Princess' recovery, followed by orders. Men kept looking outside to see if the weather suddenly changed.

Major Skaeling entered the room, causing the men there to all snap to attention. Taking his gloves off, the Major casually ordered to carry on, causing the men to sit down and such, but they all continued to listen to their new commander.

With a cold and ruthless voice, the officer dropped a bombshell on all of them.

"Princess Anna is dead, murdered by Queen Elsa."

They had all been shaken to the core of their souls. Hope had finally shown itself, only to be completely and hopelessly crushed by despair. If what they said was true… summer was not coming back. If she could kill her sister, how could she care for the suffering of Arendelle?

"What's more Prince Hans has charged Queen Elsa with _treason."_

Disbelief was sounded across the room. A Guardsman stood up, shouting at the commander.

"How does a foreigner charge her majesty with treason, in her own kingdom?!"

"Yeah!"

"Before they died, Prince Hans and Princess Anna exchanged wedding vows. He will be our King."

More shouting and disbelief.

"That's fucking convenient for Prince Hans!"

"It's a fucking coup!"

"Enough! It's not our job to interpret orders, it's our job to follow them. I need four men to retrieve the Queen and carry out the sentence. "

"Major!" It was Sergeant Raewald. "It is a Guardsman's duty to follow _legal_ orders! He cannot do as such without proof! Where is Anna's body being laid in state! Where is the Bishop, to confirm that a legal wedding was carried out?!"

Another guardsman echoed. "Yeah, where's the body!?"

Losing control, Skaeling made the mistake of trying to bully his men back into submission. "Silence! You will follow orders, or I'll have you shot!"

Yet another random man shouted "He's in on it! He sold the Royal family out to Hans!"

Raewald took initiative, eager to deal with a man he's always despised. "Seize the traitor!"

Before Skaeling could react, an angry mob of enlisted Guardsmen were on him, nearly tearing him apart as they subdued him. Kicked and beaten from the start, it didn't take long before he was completely passive. Just short of losing conscious, it stopped, with Raewald lifting his head to ensure he could look him in the eye.

"Now, where is Princess Anna's body?"

"I don't know! Prince Hans told me she was dead!"

Raewald considered beating him for more answers, but determined that time was short.

"Guardsmen! To your posts! You are to find Prince Hans and bring him in for questioning. If he resists by all means use force to subdue him, but do not treat him roughly if he cooperates. We do not know if Hans is guilty or not!"

…

Hans listened to the end of the conversation out of sight, briefly feeling a minute of panic. He had hoped that the Guardsmen's faith in the royal family had finally snapped, but not yet apparently. He was glad that he had given his little traitor the order to execute Elsa _before_ he broke the news of Anna's tragic death to the ministers. If he hadn't he'd be in real trouble now.

But he was Hans, the master schemer. He had a plan, of course. He quickly moved down the corridor, quickly spotting the woman he was looking for.

"Helga!"

"Prince Hans? You were right! He was acting against the Royal family like you thought!"

"I know, Helga. I'm ashamed it came to this myself. When I first approached him, I admit I was looking for advantage with Anna, but to overthrow the Government? I can't believe that he would try to use _my_ name of all things to excuse his dirty work… despicable."

"Prince Hans, do you want me to take the incriminating documents to Admiral Westergard?"

"No, Helga. I'll take them and turn them in when I turn myself in for my role in this."

"I see. Here they are, your Highness." She bowed, before turning over all the documents.

"Thank you Helga. I'll ensure you are just rewarded for your role in all of this."

He quickly turned and left, in a hurry to cover his tracks. He darted into Skaeling's office, collecting the last bits of evidence, all regarding Hans' last few orders to the Major. That done, he now elected a different approach than before, now working to cover his tracks. His initial plan was shit, and he was determined that it'd be better to save his skin rather than go for the throne. Besides, he could play it so he'd win the crown anyways. But not today.

…

Olaf was busy trying to pick to door open with his carrot nose, when a voice startled him.

"You know, I can help you with that."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Prince Hans, of the Southern Isles. And who are you?"

"Hi, I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs!"

Hans chuckled, as he attempted to plan around this new obstacle. Unlike his previous experiences with Snowlems, this one was not intimidating at all. In fact, Hans had no doubt that he could toss this one in a fire and be done with it. But his gut told him otherwise.

 _No, I still do not understand these things. What if it can report to Elsa what it can see? A loose end I cannot tie up. No… this idiot will be a witness to the 'heroism' of Prince Hans._

"Hello Olaf. I need your help. A bad man wants to do bad things to the Royal Family, and I need you to stand guard out here while I give Anna some medicine."

"But what about true love's kiss?"

"I'll try that first of course, but she needs medicine as well. And I need you to stand guard."

"Okay!"

 _What a gullible idiot…_

…

Hans entered the room, as Anna still sat helpless on the floor. She looked up, her eyes still capable of giving off such a hateful gaze. "You… Came back to gloat some more, you bastard!?"

"No, I learned from that mistake." He pulled a vial from his jacket pocket, popping off the cork.

"What is that?"

"I _just_ said I learned my lesson! Open up."

Anna attempted to resist him, but was far too weak for it to be any good. He stuck the vial into her mouth before clinching her nose, forcing her to swallow. The vial contained a magical potion Hans had acquired years before at a great cost. It was a knockout potion, with the ability to erase the short term memory of the drinker. He had thought to use it before on Anna, but decided against it as it was very rare. Anna briefly struggled, before passing out into a gentle sleep. Hans smiled, as the biggest loose end had just been tied.

 _Time to play hero…_

He proceeded to start a fire, and once started, shed his overcoat and laid it gently atop of Anna. He also took out the packet proving Skaeling's treason… as well as a copy. Having learned forgery at an early age, it was no problem to make a second set of correspondence, most of it the same… except a select few letters near the end. The forgery omitted any and all of the fatal orders given by his code name, replaced instead with a new journal filled with thoughts of treason, and an insane desire to overthrow the government take it for himself in a military dictatorship. Also included was of course some entries on how Hans was so unwitting, duped into thinking that Skaeling only wanted to help him win Anna's hand…

With a casual toss, Hans cast the original evidence into the fire. As it consisted solely of letters and codes, it was consumed rather easily. Hans smiled, a massive load being lifted off his back. He wouldn't become King today, but his loose ends were tied. As long as he played Hero, he couldn't lose.

"Prince Hans, there's men in Green clothes coming. And they got swords."

Hans smiled. Shifting his voice, he sounded sincere and concerned again. "Olaf! Tell them to come in here now! Tell them Anna need's help!"

…

Dieter winced as another comrade was hit by a musket ball, as he finished loading his own rifle. He and his comrades were defending the dungeons from the mysterious mutineers, and thus far they were holding at great cost. Three guardsmen had already been hit, including Eklund. But the enemy was paying for it. He brought his rifle to shoulder, waiting for a man to peek around the corner.

Just as desired an enemy fighter swung clumsily around the corner, his musket in a hip fire position. Too easy. Dieter squeezed the trigger, watching the man wheel back and fall down, before becoming still. He was the 5th to fall. The remaining two mutineers took a look at the corpse, before looking at the two remaining Guardsmen. They had enough. The two threw down their rifles, before turning to flee.

Dieter smirked, as the curs fled for their lives. "Yeah, you better run!"

Before he could do anything else, a very cold hand grasped his shoulder. Spinning about, he was very surprised to see the one person no one expected to see.

Queen Elsa.

"Where is Anna!"

…

The Guardsmen moved through the halls, keeping their heads down as musket balls were still flying around in great numbers. They had just arrested Prince Hans, and were carrying Princess Anna to the infirmary, with far more men than necessary forming a human shield around the stretcher. Raewald was leading them, clutching a pair of revolvers occasionally dispatching over confident thugs with .44 slugs. He wasn't sure who the enemy was, but he guessed that they were likely Skaeling's men. Whoever, they were, they'd all be killed like the dogs they were.

As they passed past the great hall, a remarkable sight caused Raewald to stop. Guardsman Eriksen, the new recruit was leading Queen Elsa into the castle. Just the woman he needed.

"Guardsmen, put it down here and pull security!" With a number of 'Yes Sergeant's the men spread out, covering the several entrances as the new Recruit and Elsa moved to Raewald and Anna. Not in the mood for diplomacy, Raewald began to berate his Monarch.

"Your Majesty, Princess Anna _will die_ if you don't help her! DO SOMETHING!"

Elsa clutched her head, pleading to Raewald. "Don't you understand? I don't know how to save Anna or stop this winter!"

More gunfire erupted as more attackers appeared in the main doorway. Several were dispatched with rifle fire, and the rest were engaged in hand to hand combat. As hardened wood and steel clashed, Raewald breathed a sigh of relief, as the attackers were being contained. Then it happened.

A mutineer suddenly leaped over the crowd, stunning Raewald. Landing with a tumble, the attacker pulled out a revolver and was leveling it towards them. Raewald attempted to shoot the man, only to see that his revolver was empty.

"YOUR MAJESTY, TAKE COVER!" Raewald screamed as he attempted to get up from his knee only for his old joints to buckle. He stumbled as a result, unable to throw himself in front of the sisters. To make matters worse, a delirious Anna rose to see what the commotion was about. She saw the gunman and Elsa, but her mind was not functioning quickly at this stage of the curse of the frozen heart. It was only as the gunman drew the hammer back that she realized the gravity of it all.

Before she could act, Elsa placed her in a crushing embrace.

"Elsa, no! He's going to shoot you!"

Elsa simply gave her an apathetic, but warm smile. She didn't smile very often, but when she did, it had a way of warming the whole room. Even as Anna felt the ice claw its way towards her hear, she couldn't help but be warmed by this forlorn smile. With a happy heart, Elsa simply whispered. "I know."

Elsa closed her eyes, before she heard gunfire and an impact. She felt warm blood run down her back, as she felt genuine joy, feeling numb to the pain. She was going to die, and Anna would live. A second gunshot was heard, this one much closer. As she didn't feel an impact, Elsa assumed that her killer had been dealt with.

"Your Majesty?"

Elsa opened her eyes, turning to face the voice behind her. It was Guardsman Dieter, the Guard from the dungeon, and now that she thought about it, the Guard she inducted mere days before.

He had a large hole in his chest.

He fell to his knees, dropping his pistol. Elsa patted her back, finding it wet with blood but no bullet wound. She hadn't been shot, it must have been the bone and meat blown out that caused the impact she felt. Large amounts of blood flowed from the boy's wound as he began to cough up yet more from his mouth. The attackers had been repelled, leaving the Great Hall in silence. The Guardsmen dared not stop pulling security, more from not wanting to see a fellow die than any duty.

As he neared his ended, the young soldier tried to get a message out to his Monarch, his speech interjected with coughing gasps as blood filled his lungs. "Queen Elsa… tell my parents… to not cry. To die for the Queen… and the motherland… is the greatest thing a soldier can do in his life. But tell my sister Edda, how _sorry_ I am for not keeping my promise."

Elsa began to shed tears, for the Guard's noble sacrifice. Desperate to not lose him, she tried to coax him into staying alive. "Dieter, is it? Don't die on me! Stay awake!" Desperate to keep him awake, she tried to keep him talking. "What was your promise to your sister?"

"Some silly… thing. She wanted me to ask you… if you would open the Royal Guard… to women. If only that could happen… that would be grand. For she would be so happy… and she always had a lovely smile… like a Valkyrie…"

With those words, Guardsman Dieter Eriksen was carried off to Valhalla.

Elsa sobbed, turning to Anna. She had not frozen solid yet, but she was on the verge. Her fingers were solid ice and Elsa's signature snowflake had shown itself as ice etched into Anna's face. Seeing her like this, Elsa could only sob onto her chest, helpless. She was supposed to die for Anna, not the boy. Now she would lose Anna too. Fate was too cruel.

Her eyes swollen shut with tears, Elsa therefore could not see the miracle occur before her eyes. Centered from Anna's heart the ice retreated, returning her body to pink, freckled flesh once more. As she gasped back into consciousness, the last of the white was leaving her hair. Elsa turned her head, overjoyed by Anna's rescue from the brink, she squeezed Anna firmly. But she still didn't understand it.

"Anna, How?"

Anna had an explanation.

"You attempted to sacrifice yourself for me, Elsa, An act of true love."

"… will thaw a frozen heart." It was Sergeant Raewald. Curious looks from the sisters prompted his response. "I was raised on those legends, your Majesty."

While Elsa and Anna were both overjoyed at first, a sobering thought was spoken by the old Sergeant. "And let's not forget the other act of true love committed here today." His eyes fixated on the fallen Guardsmen before him. "Yours was true love of your sister. His… was true love of Queen and Country."

He stood up, straightening out his uniform before addressing the remaining Guardsmen. Shouts of victory were being heard outside, as the last of the attackers were killed, captured or routed. It was over.

"Guardsmen, assemble. We have a hero to lay to rest."


End file.
